In the city of Ember, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
In exchange for the granting of her heart's desire, twelve-year-old Dana agrees to make an arduous journey to Lugnaquillia through the land of Faerie in order to warn King Lugh, second in command to the High King, that an evil destroyer has entered the Mountain Kingdom.
After obtaining an ancient book with only a few pages remaining, Lina and Doon return to Ember seeking the machine described in the book that might be able to aid their new community, Sparks, through the winter.
In exchange for the granting of her heart's desire, twelve-year-old Dana agrees to make an arduous journey to Lugnaquillia through the land of Faerie in order to warn King Lugh, second in command to the High King, that an evil destroyer has entered the Mountain Kingdom.
Vowing revenge when her parents are executed in 1553 by the Duke of Northumberland, teenaged Iris becomes a messenger, spy, and stand-in for Princess Elizabeth during the volatile political times surrounding Edward VI's death.
Shortly after making his way into the competitive world of photography, Barnaby Grimes learns of an experiment gone horribly wrong and soon finds himself in pursuit of an evil chemist with a penchant for suddenly vanishing.
Barnaby Grimes, a boy who collects and delivers information throughout Victorian London, faces his biggest challenge yet when he is confronted by a horde of living corpses.
Weird and evil events at a London boarding school provide messenger Barnaby Grimes an opportunity to test his budding knowledge of the ancient Chinese art of yinchido, in which one focuses on silences and empty spaces.
Sixteen-year-old Heller Highland, who is living with his grandparents while his parents are away, burns rubber across Manhattan delivering bad news by bicycle, and as a summer heat wave melts the city, he is struck by first love.
